Live Like a Schrockstar: Phoenix 2011

I know, I know. I am a couple weeks behind. The problem is, I have had way too much going on to even find time to sit down and write my blog! Don’t get me wrong, it has been all fun things that have kept me occupied over the weeks. For example, our week long vacation to Phoenix, Arizona! I have been putting this blog off for a while now, not because I don’t have anything to say, I actually have way too much to say. My blogs are usually pretty long when I do one or two exciting things throughout the week, can you imagine how much I have to say about 7 fun-filled days? I honestly don’t even know where to begin. I even told Kordell I didn’t even think I was going to do a blog about our vacation because there is no way I can type that much. It wouldn’t be a blog, it would be a novel, with chapters and possibly sequels. But, he said I need to do one so we can go back and see all the fun things we did someday. Good point. So, here we go; I’ll tell you upfront, this is about 10% of what it could be.
You’re welcome.

Kordell and I just celebrated our 5 year anniversary Oct 14^th and decided we would take a week off work and go somewhere fun! We debated where to go, for how long, should we take Landon or not, etc. We decided to go stay with my sister, brother-in-law and their daughter Taylor (3) in Phoenix for the week, and of course, take Landon. We thought it was the best of both worlds. We would have him there and then have my sister babysit so we can go out by ourselves to celebrate our anniversary. Perfect! Our flight didn’t leave until 9:30 pm Friday night. Whoever booked these tickets must have been nuts! No, actually Landon did GREAT. The only problem with flying while he should be sleeping is that he does not like to be held while sleeping. Pretty big problem when he is a “lap child.” He was squirmy for the first two hours of the flight and then the sleepiness finally took over and he napped for the last hour. On the way home, our flight landed in South Bend at 8:30 so he enjoyed this flight much more. He even made friends with the drunk man one row back who was joking about his 90 year old grandma having meth in her carry-on. No one seemed to laugh at that but us. All in all, he was a perfect baby flying. No crying, no screaming, no nothing!

Except a dirty diaper with 20 minutes left in the flight..
Sorry folks!

The first day we were there the adults went out on the town and got a sitter for the kids. My sister’s babysitter is in high school and her volleyball tournament went longer than expected so her father-in-law came to watch Taylor and Landon for a few hours until she could come. He was pretty nervous about watching Landon since he was “so small” but we told him that he had already had two dirty diapers that day so he won’t go again. We get a call an hour into our night out that Landon had pooped and got Bob’s shirt, shorts and socks dirty. Opps! Hearing these funny stories makes adult night out so much more fun!! We went out to dinner, well I guess Jenn, Derek and Kordell did, I didn’t find anything on the menu I liked so I ordered warm nuts. Yes, that is right. After dinner we went to a comedy club where I figured out that I don’t like pretty comedians. It’s too hard to find them funny. To end the night, we went to sing karaoke. I lied, I sang karaoke. Don’t worry – there were only about 5 other people in the bar. As I was walking back to my table after singing “Mariah Carey – Obsessed” a girl in the bar said “Way to go girl, you’ve got some guts!” I am not sure if that was rude or a complement. I took the complement. I was so excited to see Landon the next morning, I picked him up and gave him a big hug and noticed my stomach starting to feel a warm sensation. Yep, he peed through. I changed him and couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t get his diaper off.

Ahh, someone put it on backwards... Poor Bob.

Another great thing we did while we were in Phoenix was go to Turf Paradise. What is that you may be asking yourself? Just the best place ever! It’s a horse track. The ones with real horses that race real races and you bet real money! Ok, it’s $2 for each race. It is the cheapest entertainment ever. Jenn decided she would stay home with the kids for awhile so they could get a nap in so she dropped Kordell and I off at the track an hour before the first race, but that’s was ok with us! I did my research before and found out they were having a special on Columbus Day; $1 hot dogs, pop, popcorn, ice cream and $2 beers. Kordell is good at everything, (annoying, I know) soccer, baseball, golf, tennis, softball, basketball, tetherball (Ok, I really don’t know about that one, but I bet he is). Well, he now can add Horse Racing, or would it be horse betting, to his list. He won 6 out of 8 bets on those puppies, I mean horses. Maybe it is because he actually reads the stats and doesn’t just bet on the horses because of their cute names or because it’s the “pink horse.” Let me tell you, at $2 a bet, you are guaranteed a HUGE jackpot. I think one time he walked away with 4 bucks. My sugar daddy even bought me a soft pretzel and no, those weren’t a dollar, they were three!

We went to the Phoenix zoo one day… that sure was something. I am no Zoo connoisseur but this zoo needed help. No, it needed animals. I think we were there for 2 hours, walked 7 miles and saw 4 animals. We saw a bird, deer, horse and a squirrel that ran in front of us as we were walking. Ok, I am being dramatic, kind of. I think they don’t have many animals because it is too beepin’ hot for animals. I don’t blame the ones we saw for hiding in the corner. It’s not fun sweating walking out to the mailbox! I don’t know how these people do it. Yes, I am always cold but geez, it’s hot there!
And it was only October.

One day I volunteered at my nieces pre-school. I thought going to my nephews’ 5 year old pre-school class was a lot. Holy cow. Get 15 3 year olds in one room and watch out! For some reason I get a little awkward around other people’s children, stranger children are even worse. This one girl decided we were BFF and wouldn’t leave me alone. I played with her for a few minutes then said I was going somewhere else. She kept finding me and would say “last more time, last more time, last more time.” She is a pushy little thing. My sister said she is a mini-me. Don’t get me wrong, I did like this little girl, she told me I was beautiful. I love kids. Speaking of loving kids.. At lunch one day there were some Firemen sitting by us and Taylor went and asked them if she could see their fire truck when we were done. These guys had all sorts of toys and gifts for her. I think it’s part of their job description to be great with kids. I think it is also part of their job description to talk about their job, and talk about it a lot. To me. I must have a stamp on my forehead that says “Firemen, please tell me everything about your job, what every tool is for, what every truck does, and how your whole station got diarrheaa after being overheated at a fire” because they all do. Well, they don’t all tell me the last part, but this guy surely did. TMI sir. Please tell me he isn’t posing in this picture?!

I don’t want to say those are my favorite parts of the vacation but those are the ones I decided to go into detail on. I won’t bore you with the details of me and Kordell's date day or night because you probably would find it extremely boring, but it was perfect for us. Shopping, drinks, dinner, ice cream. What could be better? Being with my wonderful Husband, duh! Of course I could probably elaborate on the Train Park we visited, our shopping excursion, the swimming pool we invaded for the day, or the dance party Kordell, Landon and I had while the Moon’s were gone one night, but I’m not. I could go into detail about the $40 dollar margaritas Kordell and I had but, we don’t need to revisit that. As much as we loved the warmth and sunshine, it was so nice to get home to cooler temperatures, our toys and our house! There is one thing (other than the Moon’s) I will miss most about Arizona..
taking your kid into the bar!